▪ I. ˈvanning, vbl. n.1
[f. van v.1]
† 1. The action of winnowing with a fan. Obs.
| 1552 Huloet, Vannyng, uannatio. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 607 The winnowing, vanning, and laying up either of corne or pulse. 1626 Bacon Sylva §671 The Corne which in the Vanning lieth lowest, is the best. |
† b. The action of tossing in a winnowing-fan.
| 1606 Holland Sueton. Annot. 36 Sagatio,..that pastime with us in some place called the canvasing, and else where, the vanning of dogs. |
2. The action or process of separating ore on a shovel. Also attrib., as vanning-action, vanning shovel.
| 1671 Phil. Trans. VI. 2098 Vanning..is performed by pulverising the stone, or clay, or what else may be suspected to contain any mineral body, and placing it on a Vanning shovel. 1766 Ibid. LVI. 38, I employed a tinner dextrous in vanning (a way of breaking and trying ores, by washing them on a shovel gently with water) to try it in his usual way. 1778 Pryce Min. Cornub. 223 This must be repeated, till it is cleansed from the rough gravelly parts, which may be known by vanning of it on a shovel. 1839 H. T. De la Beche Rep. Geol. Cornwall, etc. xv. 585 Great dexterity is exhibited by the tinners in the operation termed vanning. 1875 J. H. Collins Met. Mining 11 The same principle is at the bottom of the beautiful art of ‘vanning’. 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 920/1 The object throughout is..to imitate the vanning action of the miner's shovel. |
▪ II. ˈvanning, vbl. n.2
[f. van n.3]
a. The action of conveying in a van. b. Travelling or touring in a van; caravanning.
| 1892 Athenæum 15 Oct. 509/2 In 1836 came the affair of Elis, of whose ‘vanning’ so much has been made, though Eclipse had been conveyed in a van..from Epsom..about fifty years before. 1910 Times 21 July 8/5 The ‘Wanderer’,..the pioneer of ‘vanning’ as a pastime for health and pleasure,..is..to be sold by auction. |